


Mission: Unpassable

by ZippyZapmeister



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Slightly Established
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-26 20:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16688209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZippyZapmeister/pseuds/ZippyZapmeister
Summary: Hanamaru has to resort to some drastic measures to get Dia's attention.





	Mission: Unpassable

**Author's Note:**

> A commission for my buddy, Sean! Mannn I'm running out of ways to thank you. Stop being so generous. ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)

_ Late again... _

 

Hanamaru watched as Dia rushed from table to table in the library, never staying in one place for too long. Hanamaru knew to expect nothing less than restlessness and over-productivity from Dia, but she was reaching new heights that day. Hanamaru had been told “just a second” for what felt like forever, being hushed and shoved aside as Dia had papers upon papers thrust at her with stupid questions...

 

“Not stupid, zura. I’m just jealous,” Hanamaru said, sighing. She was standing behind the desk of the library, helping out as usual, but nobody was checking out books. Instead, they were getting help from the student council at their brand-new after school tutoring sessions. Most of the student council seemed to be rather useless, though, and Dia was bearing the brunt of all the questions. Her exhaustion was starting to show, though. 

 

“I still don’t get it,” a girl said, a second-year. She seemed helpless, and it looked as if she felt bad that Dia’s teachings were falling flat. Granted, Hanamaru doubted that was the case. There were piles upon piles of girls there who were only being “tutored” to see the student council president in action. That was the biggest issue, for Hanamaru; how dare anybody else but her pine for Dia?!

 

“Well, that sounds like a you problem at this point,” Dia deadpanned. The girl’s lip began to tremble, and Dia backtracked. “Maybe Kanan-san can explain it a little better...although I doubt it. Call her over if you see her.”

 

Then Dia was on to the next table. Hanamaru sympathized with the girl for getting the worst end of Dia’s moods, but she couldn’t help but smile. Dia really did know how to work herself into a frenzy. It made sense that she was so irritable, considering the fact that the tutoring session was supposed to have been over an hour ago, and Dia hadn’t expected such a large turnout. However, Dia was known throughout the entire school for being a good student, so there was no question that students would seek her wisdom.

 

Finally, someone came up to the counter to check out a book, being dragged by Dia. The student seemed a bit frazzled, probably because the large reference book Dia had selected seemed heavy enough to break her wrists. Dia took it from her and slammed it down on the counter and started to speak, but paused when she met Hanamaru’s eyes.

 

“I’m extremely sorry,” Dia said. Hanamaru glanced out of the window. It looked like their coffee date was off the table. It was getting dark. Dia noticed. “I know, I know. Tomorrow, for sure. Truly. Could you check this out to this student, please?”

 

Hanamaru tried to say something, even the slightest of pleasantries to make their relationship seem that much stronger, but Dia was already flying off to help someone with trigonometry. 

 

The student seemed a bit bewildered by the exchange, but she smiled at Hanamaru nervously. Hanamaru smiled back, but she knew it looked a bit pained.

* * *

You see, if Hanamaru and Dia had been lovebirds, _ true _ lovebirds, completely enamored by one another’s feelings that had already been admitted, then things would have been different. However, that wasn’t the case. They were in the puppy-love stage of a relationship; not quite courting, but definitely exclusive. It was the kind of love that went without saying. There had been no “proper” love confession, but it was pretty clear that they were an item.

 

That was the most fragile stage of love. When nothing was set in stone, what was to stop one of you from suddenly backing out? Of course, Hanamaru had faith in Dia, had faith in their love, but all of a sudden, Dia’s time was being taken up by anything  _ but _ Hanamaru. Hanamaru had read enough romance novels to know where a situation like that could end up: they drift apart, slowly, until they hardly remember that there was any spark between them at all...

 

“Then she graduates,” Hanamaru said to herself, fiddling with the tag on her pillow. She was laying in her bed, thinking of Dia as she often did. Teenage love was a plague, really. “Oh...and then  _ I _ graduate, zura...then we both move to different parts of the country, and then we meet at a high school reunion twenty years later, and the feelings come back, but by then, it’s already too late, because she’s married with kids, and I’m...also married! And then what?!”

 

Once Hanamaru had exhausted her cache of bad romance novel plots, she found herself more worried than ever. Really, she just needed to vent, to let her frustrations and concerns out to someone other than herself. She considered her resources briefly; Ruby was Dia’s sister, so there was no way Hanamaru could go to her for advice. The next best thing was Yoshiko. There wasn’t much in the way of intelligence or emotional sensitivity there, but she would listen...probably.

 

Hanamaru picked up her cellphone, scrolling through her contacts until she came to Yoshiko’s name. Yoshiko answered on the first ring, forgoing any greetings. “What, Zuramaru?! I’m busy doing fallen angel stuff!”

 

“Is everybody busy nowadays?” Hanamaru pouted, even though that was Yoshiko’s typical response.

 

Yoshiko must have heard Hanamaru’s trouble tone, because she huffed. “What does that mean?”

 

“First Dia-chan, now you!” Hanamaru rolled over onto her stomach, burying her cheek in her pillow. “I just wanna talk for a bit, zura. Really quickly.”

 

“Why not Ruby, then?”

 

“Because...it’s about Dia-chan,” Hanamaru whimpered. Yoshiko quieted, then, waiting for Hanamaru to continue. “She’s doing that tutoring thing after school, now. And I can hardly talk to her anymore! If she’s not doing it after school, then someone’s chasing her down in the morning, or asking her something in the hallway! And when I called her a couple of minutes ago, she  _ rejected _ my call and then texted me telling me that she’d be done in a half hour!”

 

Yoshiko tsked. “Yeah, I hardly see her, either...not that that’s a bad thing.”

 

“Well, it’s bad for me,” Hanamaru said. “I don’t know what to do. I just need some advice.”

 

“It’s not  _ that _ hard,” Yoshiko scoffed. “The solution is obvious. Just go get tutored. Dia likes you, anyway. I’m sure that if you show up, all of her attention will be on you.”

 

Hanamaru considered it for a moment, but then an obvious problem presented itself. “I don’t need tutoring, zura.” Her grades weren’t  _ perfect, _ but the incessant whining and begging of the students at the tutoring session implied that she needed to be in much more dire straits to get some attention from Dia. 

 

“Fake it.”

 

“But I don’t want to lie!”

 

“Then, I guess you have to start failing your classes,” Yoshiko said. Before Hanamaru could find an issue with that solution, Yoshiko was rushing her off of the phone. “Zuramaru, I’ve got a stream to do...!”

 

Hanamaru sighed, pouting into her pillow. “Fine, fine. Bye.”

 

They hung up, and Hanamaru stared at the ceiling. Just start failing her classes...? Well, that couldn’t be hard. The hard part was keeping them up, right? That was a small loss to suffer, for love...

* * *

At least, that’s what Hanamaru thought. 

 

The concept of failing on purpose became a lot more difficult to handle when she got her first failed test back, in math, with a sixty written on the front in red marker. Some of Dia’s perfectionism had rubbed off on her, clearly. It stung, but she held it close to her. That was her ticket to spending time with Dia. Besides, once she’d lured Dia back to her side, it’d take no time to boost that grade back up.

 

With her failed test in hand, Hanamaru marched into the library after school. She was an early bird, thankfully, although Dia was already working with a group of third years. She looked up when Hanamaru entered, though. A good sign. “Good afternoon, Hanamaru-san. Here to work the desk again?”

 

Hanamaru tried not to sound too excited in her response. “No, not exactly, zura. I actually came for the tutoring!”

 

Dia’s eyebrows raised. “Is...that so? You’re an excellent student.” Hanamaru’s cheeks flushed. She almost felt bad for deceiving Dia so, making her think that she was some kind of idiot when she was nothing of the sort. Still, Hanamaru handed the test to Dia, who physically cringed at the score. “A sixty?! Hanamaru-san!”

 

“I-I know, I know, it’s bad. I, um...didn’t grasp the material. Could you help me?”

 

Dia was trying to hold back her excitement, too, but a little smile came over her face, probably without her noticing. “Alright...you obviously need some help. Let’s get situated at a table before somebody interrupts us.”

 

Dia left the students she was working with to their own resources, then found an empty table for her and Hanamaru to hunker down at. Unlike the other students that Dia sat across from, Hanamaru was seated right next to Dia, their shoulders brushing if Dia leaned close enough. Hanamaru was sure she could have learned something, if she had actually paid any attention, but she couldn’t. They had hardly been in such close proximity in the past few weeks since the tutoring sessions had started, and Hanamaru was going nuts with excitement.

 

“Hanamaru? Are you getting it? I hope I’m explaining myself well,” Dia said. Oh, and she didn’t even use a suffix for Hanamaru...everything was going according to plan! “Hanamaru?”

 

“Y-yes,” Hanamaru said, then paused. “Actually, um, no. Could you repeat that, zura?”

 

“Which part?”

 

“All of it.”

 

Dia sighed, irritably, but it was the kind of loving sigh that she reserved for the ones she loved. “Okay, fine...but listen up this time, okay?”

 

Dia lowered her pencil to her scratch paper again, but just as Hanamaru was about to make some effort to pay attention, another student approached, holding a textbook. “Pardon me, Dia-san. Could you help me with English? I didn’t do so well with my last test...”

 

Hanamaru panicked, already expecting Dia to fly off to the next table as she had been doing before. However, she seemed reluctant to leave. “Ah...could you have Kanan-san or Mari-san help you? The student I’m with right now just failed one of her exams as well.”

 

“I know, but...I did really bad,” the girl said, meekly. “I got a forty.”

 

_ Less than mine?! Aw, darn it. She needs the help more than me, huh... _ Dia seemed to be thinking the same thing, reluctantly standing up. “Alright, alright. Let’s find a table...” Dia turned back to Hanamaru. “I’m deeply sorry. Just give me a few moments. I promise I’ll finish up early, and we can go get something to eat.”

 

“No worries, Dia-chan,” Hanamaru said, but there were definitely a lot of worries.

* * *

Of course, Dia didn’t finish on time. Of course, Hanamaru was left with a bad grade and not much to show for it. She was pleased by the twenty minutes she got to spend in Dia’s presence, but it felt like nothing compared to the hours she’d spent standing at the library desk and watching Dia hustle and bustle for everybody else. Hanamaru was going to have to get...drastic.

 

A week later, Hanamaru had another exam score back, that time in literature. She had made sure to do even worse on that exam: a twenty-three. That was an easy class to boost grades, for her. Literature was her heart and soul! A brief dip in her grade wouldn’t kill her...at least, not physically. Maybe emotionally.

 

With a heavy heart, Hanamaru took the test to the library, early again. That time, there were only a few students there with most of them already working independently, and Hanamaru had Dia’s attention from the moment she walked in. “Hi, Hanamaru.” No suffixes, right off the bat! Hanamaru had some good feelings about that day. “Here to work the desk?”

 

“A-actually, no, Dia-san...”

 

“Oh, no. Math giving you trouble again?”

 

Damn it. Maybe she should have failed another math test, instead...keep things consistent. Ah, well. “No, no. This time it’s literature.”

 

Dia seemed truly shocked, then. “Trouble with literature? You? Unbelievable.” Hanamaru held up the test, and Dia held it in her hands with disbelief. “Hanamaru, I must say, I’m...speechless.”

 

“I know, I know. I’m having trouble analyzing the novel we’re reading,” Hanamaru said, producing a copy of the text. It was a romance novel, which...wasn’t exactly what they were reading, but it was close enough. Besides, what better way was there to lure in a lover than to discuss romance? 

 

They found a table (the same one as last time), and Dia took the book. She flushed when she read the title and the synopsis, but cleared her throat and began to flip through anyway. “Er, this is...rather interesting. Can’t say I’ve read it before, but I can do my best to help you comprehend it.”

 

“I can comprehend it just fine, zura,” Hanamaru said.

 

Dia’s eyebrows raised. “Then, what happened on the test?”

 

“Ah...you see, I have trouble focusing on romance novels,” Hanamaru said. She sighed wistfully, and Dia leaned in questioningly. She was so gullible, really. Hanamaru liked to think that it was only her charms that Dia fell for. “I tend to get distracted, so it’s harder for me to remember everything. Doesn’t that happen to you, Dia-chan?”

 

Dia blushed even harder. “Yes, everybody gets distracted, although it  _ is _ rather rare for me...”

 

“No, no. I mean, seeing something so sweet, and fluffy, and romantic...and you tend to think of one person,” Hanamaru said. 

 

Wonderfully executed, if Hanamaru may have said so herself. It was really just like the plot out of a storybook! Dia was undoubtedly wooed. “Ah...w-well, um, I...” For once, Dia couldn’t get a hold on herself, stuttering her way to frustration. Finally, she inhaled and exhaled, sharply. “Perhaps, every now and again.”

 

“Really? A specific person, zura?”

 

Dia retrieved her steely resolve again, for a moment. She repeated, “Perhaps.”

 

Hanamaru took that as a yes. “Who? Out of curiosity.”

 

Dia relaxed, just a little bit, into her chair. She gave Hanamaru a sideways glance. “Hm...don’t you already know who, Hanamaru?”

 

Suddenly, the tables were turned. Just as Hanamaru thought she had the upper hand, she was falling in love all over again, dizzy and warm. Who knew Dia was so...catching? Well, Hanamaru knew that, of course. And she also knew who Dia was daydreaming about. “Me, right?”

 

Putting the answer out there so bluntly gave Hanamaru a slight advantage as Dia tried to think of a response. However, she didn’t have time to formulate one. The same student was approaching with another marked-up English exam. “Hello again, Dia-san. I’m having some more trouble. I got a fifteen on this last test...”

 

Hanamaru’s jaw dropped. Dia seemed straight-up irritated, at that. “I’m assuming our last session didn’t help you too much, then.”

 

Her tone made even Hanamaru, who had learned to see through Dia’s hard exterior, shiver in fear. “I-I think I’m starting to get it,” the girl said, although her test scores seemed to say otherwise. “I just need a little more help...”

 

Dia looked over at Hanamaru, but before she could speak, Hanamaru spoke for her. “Just a couple of minutes, then we’ll go get tea or something, zura...”

 

“Right,” Dia said. “Just a few minutes.”

* * *

Just a few minutes turned into hours, and the sun set again. Hanamaru couldn't even find herself angry; not when Dia had all but admitted to daydreaming about Hanamaru, thinking about her, thinking about their love for each other. Hanamaru laid in bed that night, too, thinking about Dia but that time with more positive thoughts.

 

However, Hanamaru had to make sure that Dia was near her. She couldn't let things go sour when they were getting so close! Hanamaru had to make things official, quickly. But, Dia was still caught up in all of her tutoring. Hanamaru was going to have to get even lower than before.

 

So, another week later, she was pleased to see that she got a zero on a history exam.

 

It was an imperfectly perfect ending to the mountain of love Hanamaru had built. Now, there was no  _ way _ Dia could turn Hanamaru down. Hanamaru was already terrible at history, so getting that grade back up would be no easy task, but it wouldn’t be too hard. Besides, if Hanamaru got as close to Dia as she wanted, then it would be nothing for Dia to actually tutor Hanamaru on the subject.

 

That day, though, Hanamaru wasn’t focused on learning about...whatever they were learning about in history class. She wanted the subject of their conversations to be the same as they were the week before: romantic, dreamy, loving. 

 

The library was full up when Hanamaru walked in. She had made sure to get there as fast as she could, but she was still slow to the punch. Dia was doing her usual rounds, table to table, student to student, subject to subject. Hanamaru just watched her for a couple of moments, smiling. Yeah, that was her Dia...

 

Hanamaru approached Dia, finally. Dia was moving so quickly that she ran into Hanamaru, making Hanamaru drop her test. Dia picked it up, looked at it, then sighed. “Hanamaru...”

 

“Don’t be mad,” Hanamaru pleaded. 

 

“What’s your excuse this time?”

 

That time, Hanamaru didn’t have to lie. She was actually bad at history, unlike literature or math. “It doesn’t connect for me at all, zura. It just seems like a bunch of words and things happening all at once.”

 

“Don’t think of it like that,” Dia said. She looked down at the test, then thought about it for a moment. “You like stories, right? Think of history like that. It’s just one long story that never ends-”

 

“Dia-san!” A student approached, apologizing for her interruption before barrelling ahead. “Thank you for your help earlier, but I’m confused with this part, now...”

 

Hanamaru prepared for the sting of being swept aside, but Dia pleasantly surprised her. “Alright. Hanamaru, perhaps you should come over my house this evening. We can discuss further there. Bring all of your textbooks and I’ll help you wherever I can.”

 

An opportunity for a one-on-one study date, with Dia?! Hanamaru almost wanted to turn her down, the opportunity was so frightening. But she didn’t, of course. “A-alright! I’ll come by at five, zura!”

 

“Great,” Dia said. “See you then. And study on your own, too. Don’t get lazy just because I’m helping you!”

 

Hanamaru didn’t mind the slightly-harsh words. Dia was a lot fluffier when they were alone, and Hanamaru was finally going to see that side for more than a few moments that evening. 

* * *

Hanamaru changed when she got home after calling Yoshiko to beg her for fashion advice. After realizing that Yoshiko’s “fashion advice” relied on Hanamaru having a plethora of gothic clothing articles, Hanamaru decided to go with a blouse, a sweater, and a skirt. Simple, studious, and absolutely adorable, if she had any say-so.

 

When Hanamaru got to the Kurosawa household, Dia still wasn’t home. In fact, Ruby was the one to answer the door. “Hi, Ruby-chan,” Hanamaru said, cheerfully.

 

Ruby was surprised to see Hanamaru, but of course she was excited. Hanamaru was already thinking about how to gently tell her that Dia was the reason for her visit and that they wouldn’t be hanging out that day, but Ruby seemed to already be aware. “Onee-chan will be home in just a couple of minutes. She told me to just send you up to her room...”

 

“Alright,” Hanamaru said. She stepped in, but turned around as she replayed Ruby’s words in her head. She sounded nervous. Well, she always did, but at that moment more than usual. “Say, Ruby-chan...are you okay, zura?”

 

Ruby jumped at the question. “Y-yes. Why?”

 

“You sound weird...”

 

Ruby averted her eyes. “Uh...I’m fine. J-just, be careful with onee-chan today, alright? I think she’s riled up about something.”

 

“Isn’t she always?” 

 

They shared a laugh, and Ruby seemed to calm down. They talked on the way to Dia’s room, and Ruby even sat on Dia’s bed with Hanamaru as Hanamaru emptied her bag of books and papers on the bed. By the time Hanamaru was settled, the front door was opening and closing, and Dia was announcing that she was home.

 

“Good luck,” Ruby whispered. Hanamaru flushed and waved her goodbye. Ruby could be a little oblivious, but Hanamaru’s crush was pretty obvious. Or, maybe she was saying “good luck” because Dia was in a weird mood?

 

That didn’t seem to be true when Dia walked in, though. She seemed normal. “Sorry about being late. Things got a little hectic. There’s an exam coming up tomorrow for a lot of second years,” she said, setting her own bookbag down. She noticed Hanamaru’s books spread out and smiled. “I see you’re ready to get to business.”

 

“Yeah. Thanks for helping me, Dia-chan,” Hanamaru said. And, really, she meant it. Romance aside, she had to admire Dia’s willingness to forfeit her own spare time just to help a fellow student.

 

Granted, she seemed to have a bit of a thing for that student...

 

“It’s my pleasure, really. I was a bit concerned to see all of those test grades, you know.”

 

Dia was  _ concerned _ about Hanamaru? Hanamaru felt her heart race. “Really, zura?”

 

“Really. Especially knowing that you failing your literature test was...indirectly caused by me.”

 

“I never said I was daydreaming about you, though,” Hanamaru said. Dia stopped like a deer in headlights, and Hanamaru laughed. “Relax, Dia-chan. I was.”

 

Dia collected herself again, and sat on the bed next to Hanamaru. “If that’s true...then I guess it’s only right that I help you, no?” They were close, almost too close. Hanamaru’s mind was racing. What to do, what to do? Should she go in for the kiss, should she think of something else to smoothly say with a loving tone, should she wait for Dia to make the next move? She decided to go for the third option. Dia soon moved back a little bit, then pulled her journal to her. “Well, let’s start with mathematics, then. I’ve prepared fifty practice problems for you to work through. Please thoroughly show your work so we can determine where you need the most help. To simulate a classroom environment, I’ll be giving you sixty minutes to do this, and no more.”

 

Wait, what?

 

“Uh, D-Dia-chan, actually, I’m not  _ that _ bad at math-”

 

‘Not that bad’ isn’t good enough for me,” Dia said. She handed Hanamaru the list of problems, then gave Hanamaru a pencil and scratch paper. “We’re going to turn that sixty into a one hundred!”

 

_ Oh my God. She actually wants to tutor me?! I thought this was a date! _ Hanamaru looked down at the paper. It looked as if it were in a different language. Hanamaru had never read a romance novel that had a twist like  _ that. _

 

Dia took out her phone for a timer, and counted down to the beginning. Once she started the clock, Hanamaru took a deep breath and began to work out the problems. They were nothing like what she had done in class. Really, some of the concepts were so foreign that Hanamaru felt as if Dia had just made up a new category of arithmetic. She worked hard, though, and by the time the clock stopped, she was on question number thirty-nine.

 

Dia looked it over, frowning at some parts, nodding at others. “Not bad...although we could work on your speed a little more. Alright, on to literature.” Dia flipped the pages of her notebook, then grabbed the novel that Hanamaru was supposedly reading in class and handed it over. “I thoroughly researched the plot of the book and read some excerpts, then devised some questions based off of it.” What the hell?! “Since your problem with this subject is your focus, I figured that giving you less time to complete an assignment would force you to be more studious, so for these ten questions, I’ll be giving you ten minutes.”

 

Hanamaru looked over the questions, and Dia started the clock. The questions weren’t easy identifying questions. They were in-depth, asking for analysis and quotes to support her answers. Hanamaru had truly read the novel, several times in fact, but she still had no idea how to answer the questions that Dia had given her.

 

She was still on question number three when the clock stopped. Dia shook her head at the answer sheet. “Tsk, tsk. What a shame. I expect better from you, Hanamaru.”

 

Hanamaru had the vaguest feeling that she was being toyed with, but Dia wouldn’t do such a thing...not when she felt like somebody was in need. Hanamaru couldn’t put her finger on why Dia was acting so strangely. “I-it’s really not that bad! My grade, I mean-”

 

“Alright. We need to work on history, too, right?” Hanamaru gulped and nodded. Dia opened her laptop, and after a few taps and clicks, there was a document up on the screen. Hanamaru flinched at the sight of it. She didn’t know much about computers, but the “1 of 50” on the side of the screen sure seemed to imply that there were fifty pages in that document. “For history, I think it would be helpful for you to read and electronically annotate the entirety of this document, and then write an essay-”

 

“Oh my God, Dia-chan,” Hanamaru cried. “Enough, already! I’m losing it, zura!”

 

Dia looked so surprised that Hanamaru could tell she was exaggerating. “Oh? But didn’t you need tutoring, though?” 

 

“No,” Hanamaru said, finally telling the truth. A solid month of bullshitting on work, and it only got her  _ more _ work! She hated to say it, but not even a candlelit dinner and a marriage proposal from Dia could make Hanamaru write a history essay. Well, maybe it could, but regardless... “I faked failing, alright?”

 

Dia dropped her oblivious act, folding her arms. Dia was so smart; what made Hanamaru think that she could pull a fast one on a Kurosawa? “I thought you knew better than to take ideas from Yoshiko-san, of all people,” Dia sighed. She closed her laptop, and Hanamaru exhaled with relief.

 

Then, she tensed again. “H-how did you know I got the idea from Yoshiko-chan?”

 

Dia rolled her eyes. “Apparently, she bragged about ‘leading her little demons to success’ on her stream. Mari-san told Kanan-san, who told You-san, who told Riko-san...” Dia stopped reciting the Aqours gossip pipeline before she said who exactly told her. Hanamaru was too busy feeling ashamed to be curious. “That doesn’t matter right now. Hanamaru, why would you do something so irresponsible?”

 

Hanamaru couldn’t meet Dia’s scolding gaze. Dia had a special way of looking at a person that made them feel especially like garbage, and it was working. Hard. Still, Hanamaru was no criminal. In fact, she thought that what she did was completely reasonable, considering the circumstances. Dia’s stern eyes made her repent on the spot, though. “I didn’t know what else to do, zura,” Hanamaru whined. “I really like you, Dia-chan...and we were getting really close, but then you were always tutoring students! I hardly ever saw you! So, I thought that if I needed tutoring, I would be able to see you more. So...I let my grades drop. Just a little bit.”

 

“You got a zero on an exam. On purpose.”

 

“Actually, I tried to get one question on it right, but my answer turned out to be wrong.”

 

Dia groaned. She moved Hanamaru’s piles of books and papers to the foot of the bed in order to move closer to Hanamaru, cupping Hanamaru’s cheeks in her hands. She squeezed just enough for Hanamaru to know that she was serious. “Listen close, okay?” Hanamaru nodded. It was hard to listen, though, Dia’s hands were so soft... “You’re very important to me, Hanamaru. I like you, a lot. I think that’s clear by now, right?” Hanamaru nodded again. Could Dia feel her cheeks getting warmer? “I can guarantee you that you and your well-being are among my highest priorities. If you need me, call me, and I’ll be there. Got it?” Hanamaru was getting too emotional to nod. “That being said...don’t take such drastic measures on my part! Especially for something so trivial!”

 

Dia seemed to be done. She released Hanamaru and Hanamaru grinned sheepishly, rubbing her cheeks. “I won’t, if you stop being so busy.”

 

“We probably won’t be doing the tutoring sessions anymore, anyway,” Dia mumbled. Hanamaru brightened. “It seems as if student test scores have went  _ down _ since we started tutoring.”

 

Hanamaru didn’t know what to attribute that to. It was either Kanan and Mari’s shabby attempts at tutoring, or all of the students getting distracted by Dia being so hot. Hanamaru didn’t really care about the reason. Finally, her suffering was over! “So, now we can start hanging out after school again?”

 

“‘Hanging out’? Absolutely not,” Dia barked. “You’ve been destroying your own academic career for a month! We’re going to have to spend an immense amount of time repairing it! As a matter of fact, I think your academics even  _ before _ this little scheme of yours were a bit on the skim side. If I can’t tutor the whole school, then I’ll just have to start with you.”

 

Hanamaru paled. “And...a-after we get the grades up? Then we can go on dates?”

 

Dia paused in the middle of her tyrannical rant, as if a circuit inside her had blew when Hanamaru said the word “dates”. They had never really used that word yet, but Hanamaru figured that taking a dive on her grades meant that there  _ had _ to be a little more commitment. “W-we’ll get to that when we’re finished studying,” Dia declared. “For now, hit the books.”

 

“Yes, ma’am, zura!” 


End file.
